Deben Willow Care

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, Right care, Right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and/or who are autistic.

Dates of assessment 25 May 2025 to 18 June 2025 when feedback was given to the leadership team. At the last inspection 2 September 2019, we rated the service good. At this assessment, the rating has remained good.

During this assessment we carried out telephone interviews, contacting 25 people who used the service, 5 relatives and received feedback from 17 care staff about their experience of Deben Willow Care.

This assessment was undertaken in response to concerns raised with us regarding staffing, management and the culture within the service. A number of quality statements that related to the issues raised were assessed to seek assurances of the service provided.

Overall people received safe quality care and were satisfied that their needs were met. However, there were some concerns relating to the timing of visits with people not knowing who to expect and when, some care staff not being on time and people not being informed of changes to their care visits in a timely manner. We identified some communication issues such as language and cultural barriers with overseas staff.

The registered manager who had been in post 2 month prior to this assessment had identified these issues and was taking action. This was a work in progress and had not been fully embedded at the time of the assessment.

We found that people’s risks were assessed, regularly reviewed with mitigating actions taken to protect people from further harm. Staff provided safe, person-centred care which met people’s needs and preferences. Care records provided information to guide staff on how to deliver safe care. We shared examples where the documentation in some areas could be further enhanced to support people’s health and wellbeing outcomes.

The registered manager was open to feedback and demonstrated a positive approach to learning and development. The service was well led with regular checks for quality and safety completed with actions in place for where improvements had been identified. There were regular staff and management meetings to share information, review actions for improvement and to discuss any shortfalls. To support ongoing development of the service the registered manager was strengthening the governance and monitoring systems in the service and we were encouraged by the actions they were taking.